Christian parody band ApologetiX to appear in Lamar

Dangerous Doug Harper is hard at work on a new project. Hot on the heels of his David Allan Coe concert at Nevada Speedway Harper has a new concert planned for 7 p.m., Sept. 19, in the Lamar Memorial Hall, ApologetiX, a band that bills itself as a Christian parody band.

If you are confused by that, you are not alone. Harper explained that the band doesn't parody Christian music but instead parodies secular songs much like Weird Al Yankovic does but substitutes Christian themes for the original secular lyrics.

"They take the music and put their own lyrics to them; like instead of 'Livin' La Vida Loca' they do 'Livin' What Jesus Spoke Of,'" Harper said. "They have a whole bunch of songs that explain biblical principles."

A press release from Harper says the group feels they are on a mission.

"We didn't set out to be the Christian Parody Band. We're all life-long musicians of varying tastes who have written our fair share of original music," the release states. "We all have that 'artist' side of us, but we've seen God use our songs in so many lives.

"We've learned that apparently God wants us to do two things in particular with our music. First we've noticed that ApologetiX CDs are more easily handed to non-churched friends to check out (as 'sound-tracts'!), so we reach some folks that other Christian music doesn't. Secondly, we're kind of surprised at how much Christians don't know about their faith, and the Bible! We originally wrote these songs to help ourselves remember what we were learning in bible study. People tell us that they use ApologetiX music in their own personal learning, too. That's awesome! Now, we take that opportunity and we use music to teach the essentials of the faith and the details of scripture. And as long as God, leads, we'll continue to record CDs full of great music and His message."

Harper is going to be on the stage as well, because he has a new band that will be the opening act for ApologetiX.

"I'll be there, too," Harper said. "I have a new band called Hollywood Adventure."

The tickets for the show will go on sale early, Harper said, so that church groups can take advantage of an opportunity to buy tickets at reduced prices.

"The tickets go on sale Thursday," Harper said. "They're $15 in advance and church youth groups of six or more can buy blocks of them for $12 a ticket."

Harper said the Lamar Memorial Hall was a good venue with a good view from anywhere in the audience.

"There are only 300 seats there so every seat's a good seat," Harper said. "It's a great venue."